Clear Street starts payments coverage, favors Visa and Mastercard over XYZ, PYPL

Clear Street’s Bullish Stance on Visa and Mastercard

Analyst Owen Lau initiated coverage of Visa with a Buy rating and a $403 price target. The firm’s assessment relies on a 27x price-to-earnings multiple applied to a fiscal 2027 earnings-per-share estimate of $14.95.

Clear Street describes Visa as one of the highest-quality compounders within its coverage universe. The analyst highlighted the company’s strong financial metrics, noting that it maintains adjusted operating margins above 67% and converts approximately half of its net revenue into free cash flow. While valuation has faced pressure over the last two years due to macroeconomic concerns and the emergence of new technologies like stablecoins, the firm views current stock levels as an attractive entry point.

Mastercard also received a Buy rating, accompanied by a $617 price target based on 27x the company’s 2027 earnings estimate of $22.85. Despite the stock underperforming the S&P 500 year-to-date—largely due to its role as a funding source for AI-related trades and a deceleration in cross-border volume—Clear Street argues the market has overlooked its core strengths. The firm stated that Mastercard “hasn’t received enough credit for its healthy network, robust growth in VAS, and optionality in agentic commerce.”

Hold Ratings for Block and PayPal

In contrast to its bullish outlook on the legacy networks, Clear Street adopted a more cautious approach toward Block and PayPal, initiating both with Hold ratings.

Block was assigned an $82 price target. While the firm acknowledged that the company’s fundamentals are showing signs of improvement, it prefers to “wait for a better entry point” as the company navigates its ongoing pivot toward becoming an AI-orchestrated commerce platform. Similarly, PayPal received a $61 price target. Clear Street indicated that the company’s story “is more likely to inflect positively in 2027-2028 than in 2026,” while also pointing to the reported $53 billion buyout offer from Stripe and Advent as a key near-term catalyst for the stock.

Market Sentiment and Analyst Consensus on Visa

Bank of America Securities analyst Matthew O’Neill, who is ranked #2510 out of 12377 analysts, recently reiterated a Buy rating on Visa with a $410.00 price target. This follows a trend of positive sentiment, as Citi analyst Bryan Keane, a 4-star analyst who covers the Technology sector, also reiterated a Buy rating, setting his price target at $400.00. Additionally, Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Buy on June 30 with a $394.00 price target.

Visa’s market performance remains strong, with shares closing recently at $352.20, close to its 52-week high of $366.54. Current data suggests a Strong Buy analyst consensus for the stock, with an average price target of $394.71, representing a 13.3% upside from current levels.

Equitable Holdings and Donegal Group Performance

Beyond the payments sector, other financial institutions have seen significant analyst activity. UBS analyst Michael Ward, a 4-star analyst with a 70.2% success rate, maintained a Buy rating on Equitable Holdings (EQH) with a $68.00 price target. With shares closing at $46.98, the consensus among analysts suggests a Strong Buy for Equitable Holdings, carrying a price target consensus of $59.70, a 25.7% upside from current levels. TipRanks – PerPlexity also upgraded the stock to Buy today with a $52.00 price target.

Meanwhile, the outlook for Donegal Group (DGICA) remains more tempered. KBW analyst Meyer Shields, a top 100 analyst with a 74.6% success rate, maintained a Hold rating on the company with a $20.00 price target. The stock closed recently at $19.24, close to its 52-week high of $19.45. The general analyst consensus currently holds at a Hold rating with an average price target of $20.00, reflecting a 4.4% upside. Previously, on June 29, TipRanks – PerPlexity downgraded the stock to Hold with a $20.50 price target.

Broader Financial Sector Activity

Analyst activity extends to other areas of the financial sector. Citi analyst Peter Christiansen maintained a Buy rating on Riot Platforms with a $28.00 price target. With the stock closing at $21.17, the analyst consensus for Riot Platforms is a Strong Buy with an average price target of $31.00, representing a 39.7% upside. Bernstein also maintained a Buy rating on Riot Platforms on June 23 with a $30.00 price target.

Additionally, Jefferies analyst John Hecht, a 5-star analyst, maintained a Buy rating on Enova International with a $280.00 price target. Enova International closed at $237.00 and holds an analyst consensus of Strong Buy with a price target consensus of $236.67. Citizens JMP maintained a Buy rating on Enova on June 26 with a $270.00 price target.

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